Within the Ice
by LadyChizumi
Summary: The story takes place after the TV Series' 5th season. First fanfic. Not good with summaries. Rated M because GoT... it won't be GoT if it wasn't at least M rating. lol
1. Chapter 1 A flower in the chink of ice

Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones.

I would most probably add OCs along the way.

First Fanfic ^_^ I hope you enjoy reading. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

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Rays of light start peeking through a crack on an old wooden window. It found it's end on a face of a man laid on a dusty bench layered with dozens of old stained fabrics. A wrinkle on his forehead starts to show his discomfort. A few tilts from side to side, he felt something hindering him to roll to his left side and slowly he opens his eyes. _A wall,_ he thought. "The wall!" he suddenly rose and there he felt it. It seemed like a thousand jabs of a spear all over his body and the only thing he could do was groan as loud as he could before falling back.

A shuffle of footsteps could be heard from the room next to where he was. A loud bang erupted as the door opened and reveals a disheveled, Samwell Tarly. "Jon!" his voice almost echoed throughout the room. The man in pain seemed to not respond to his call but shows an acknowledgement of his presence when he forced one of his eyes open. "Jon! You're finally awake!" Sam was figuring out how to help his friend however, every attempt to help him sit up was for naught. Every movement would make Jon wince and grimace.

"Do not touch him." Cloaked in red, she reveals herself by taking her hood down. "You!" Sam stood up and faced the lady in crimson clothing. "You did this to him!" preparing to grab her, Sam abruptly rose. Gilly rushed to the room and stood between them. "Sam, stop!" she persuades an angry Sam to calm down.

Slowly reaching for the ground, his feet finally found the floor. Jon sits up, "Sam" he uttered with a breathy call that would probably go unheard, if only it weren't such a small room. The other three immediately turned to the source of the voice and saw Jon trying his best to keep himself from collapsing back on the platform of tattered cloths. "The wall." He tries to continue. Sam, about to approach Jon, was stopped by a hand on his upper arm. Gilly was pulling him back. "Come with me, Sam. The red lady has to do her job until he gets better, remember?" Gilly seemed level-headed enough to persuade Sam to back off, but not without giving the red woman a scowl. To this exchange, Jon furrowed his brows. Curious, he took an effort to stand up, and follow Sam outside but before he could take a step, Melisandre has blocked his way. Jon only saw Sam and Gilly's form exiting the room and shutting the creaky door with a thud.

"Sit back down, Jon." He couldn't rack up a reason to listen to the lady's orders, however, it was straining him to even force himself to keep up standing while his body was aching "Like diving on a sea of thorns?" she asked him as he sat back on the bench. Receiving a puzzled look, Melisandre gave him a dissatisfied look. "You haven't even heard the story and yet, you're giving me such an expression, my lord." She turns and starts to light a lamp on the desk. "I'm not a lord." The red woman scoffs at his attempt to argue. "It wouldn't do you any good to move around. Stay on that makeshift bed for now. I can't guarantee your full recovery just yet." She takes a scroll from inside her cloak. She reaches to hand it to him. Jon suspiciously stared at the scroll and looked up at Melisandre without taking it. Yielding to his distrust, she took the scroll back and unrolled it herself in front of him. "Many years ago, when I had gained the blessing of the Lord of the Light, a mysterious letter found its way to me." She tells him her story. Jon, looking tired, leaned back and let the lady continue. "This scroll, I found it with the help of that letter." She sat on a stool beside the desk. "What is it?" Jon pants softly. "Everything I am supposed to be… it is written here." She answers with a crestfallen smile as if she remembered a sad memory.

Pacing back and forth in the kitchen, Sam was filled with agitation. "Sam." sat on a stool beside little Sam's cradle, Gilly tries to call Samwell's attention. "You're going to bore a hole through the floor." She said yet again, she was ignored. "Sam!" she raised her voice and the little baby beside her gave a muffled whimper. "Gilly!" he shushed her. "You're going to wake him up." Sam walked towards the baby and rocked his little cradle slowly. "I just wanted to tell you, that you're worrying too much." She told him. "Too much? You think it's too much? I think I haven't worried enough for my friend there." He gestured towards the room they were in a few moments ago. "Well, the red witch is here and…" before she could continue, Sam waved her to quiet down. "She might hear that, y'know? The last thing we need is to upset her while she's alone in there with Jon." He whispered. "I'm going to upset her? I wasn't the one about to strangle her a while ago." Gilly sneers.

Jon had read the scroll and closes his eyes in disappointment. "Supposed to be?" he turns to the lady that is now looking out through the old window. "… or is this what you wish to be?" Jon waved the paper towards her. She stifles a sigh. Forlorn, Melisandre wanly faced him. As if a confirmation of his latter question, Jon had recalled all the events that had something to do with the red woman in front of him. Piecing them together, it explained the failure of Stannis, despite having a diviner like Melisandre as an advisor. "Then why come here? Why reveal this to me?" expressionless, he lets go of the crumpled paper. "Do you think I'll help you wash your sins?" he grit his teeth. "I am not here for an apology. I did not come to spit out words of regret." The red woman was firm. "Then why?" confused as to where the conversation was going to lead, he needed an answer. "'tis true that I don't regret my actions. I've only been lead that path to be able to get to the right one." She picks up the lamp off the desk. "What are you talking about? Have you no conscience? People have died because of what you've lead them to believe. The daughter of the Baratheons, the wife, and Stannis himself." Jon had grown exasperated. "Everyone has a place in the world. Everyone has a purpose. Once it's fulfilled, then they have served the Lord of the Light and shall come back to where they came from, with the great Lord himself." She stated. "You are mad." He voiced his irritation. "And you are dead." Melisandre stands and stretched her arm towards Jon.

The snow outside the little cottage had piled up. The wind was blowing mildly yet enough to rustle the leafless branches of the trees. A sudden burst of flames had consumed half of the poor abode. A cry of a little one could be heard along with his mother's.

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I'll be cutting this up here and will continue with it soon.

Let me know what you think about it. ^_^ Thanks for reading.

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Just made a little editing after proofreading it myself. Not much has changed. Chapter 2 will most likely be up in 24 hours after this edit.


	2. Chapter 2 Dragons don't burn

A few days ago

Dry and cold hands tenderly embrace a rolled cloth to keep the infant inside warm. "How is he?" Sam cautiously approached the worried young mother. "He's finally asleep. Now all we have to do is find a house." Gilly sounded upset while gently rubbing the back of little Sam's wrap. "I don't believe you'll find a house all of a sudden in the middle of a snowy forest." The woman dressed in red mounted on a horse was waiting behind a tree. "The lady with Lord Stannis!" Samwell exclaimed. "Pardon me for asking but, why are you out here?" Sam approached cautiously with Gilly and the baby following right behind him. "Tarly, 'tis your name, is it not?" Melisandre made sure to remember his name. In shock to actually hear it, "Y-yes. Yes I am Samwell Tarly." He hesitates in his answer. "This is Gilly." He introduced the girl right beside him.

The red cloaked lady looked at Gilly and back to Samwell. "Follow me, your friend needs you." Pulling the reins, she made the horse face about and proceeded to take a straight path. "What do you think?" Samwell was skeptical and kept his eyes on the lady while he whispers. "Which friend was she talking about?" Gilly spoke in her usual tone, audible enough for the lady on the horse to look over her shoulder. "Jon Snow." She replied. "But that isn't even the way towards Castle Black." He said and started to pull Gilly's hand towards the opposite direction. "There was a mutiny." Melisandre turned about once more and raised her voice to catch their attention. Indeed she was successful when the pair stopped in their tracks and faced her way again. "A mutiny?" Gilly asked Sam. "It's when a rebellion is formed against the leading authority." Sam says in monotone. "The leader? So it is Jon?" Gilly was confused. "Jon was, dare I say it, murdered." The red cloaked woman said as Samwell halted. "Murdered? He was killed?" fearing for a confirmation yet he wanted to know. "Follow me, I'll show you." She continued to tread along the snowy path.

"Sam, my feet hurt." Gilly reached and handed little Sam to him. "It's not far from here." Melisandre stopped the horse and got down. "Young man, the young lady needs the steed more than I do." She gestures for Samwell to help Gilly up the horse. "Th-thank you." Gilly stutters her gratitude. "I'll be walking ahead then. There's a homely cottage up ahead. It seems it hadn't been used for quite a long time. I left him there." The red woman faced forward and never looked back. "What happened when we left Castle Black? Weren't you with Lord Stannis?" Samwell had to know. "The battle for Winterfell was lost." With no hesitation, She revealed the sad news. "I believe 'tis not of your concern, Tarly. You have more pressing matters to attend to. Like for one, why were you and the young lady walking away from Castle Black?" Melisandre questioned the two. "We left the castle on a carriage. The horse that was given to us was sickly and limping after we left the gates. Soon enough it gave up on us without even getting us near our destination." He explained. "Why do you think you were given that horse, young man?" The red woman smirks but never gave them a glance. "It must be the only one they could spare. They're really stingy." Gilly voices her opinion. "No. I get it now." Samwell looked at Gilly and pulled the reins of the horse. He walked faster and kept up with Melisandre. "You are a smart young man." That's all she could say and the misty snowy forest finally revealed a small dilapidated cottage.

Entering the small cottage, the first thing Gilly saw was a little cradle. "Sam look!" She stepped forward and checked if the cradle was sturdy and clean. "It's really old." She said. "I don't think anyone's been here for years. "Jon is inside that room." The woman pulls her cloak down slowly. "You took a dead man inside the house?" Gilly was surprised. "You could have at least buried him." She continued. "Stop Gilly." Unable to hear more about the death of his friend, Samwell headed for the room Melisandre pointed to. "He's not dead." She said gaining the attention of the two. "He was, and now he isn't." Melisandre continued. Samwell and Gilly glanced at each other with baffled looks. "What do you mean?" Samwell asked. "Go on. Check for yourself." The lady in red raised her hand towards the door.

The room was humid yet warm. The only heat source was a small desk lamp about to burn out. There he lay, Jon Snow, on a bench covered with dirty old cloths from who knows where. Bandages poorly wrapped around his head caught Samwell's attention and looked at Melisandre out of curiosity. "What happened? How did he end up like this, in this old house?" He knelt beside the bench and checked for Jon's pulse from below the jaw on the upper neck. "He's warm. He's almost burning." Instead of a pulse, the first thing he noticed was his temperature that felt like a high fever. "I have left him alone for too long, stand back, Tarly." Melisandre shoved Samwell aside and placed her right hand on the left side of Jon's head. She pressed her thumb gently on a bloodied mark on the bandage over his left eye. She lifted her left hand and raised it pointing towards the desk lamp and its flame started to grow, lighting up the whole room. Jon's temperature started to go down and soon Melisandre let him go.

Shaken by what they just witnessed, Samwell and Gilly were sitting on stools beside little Sam's cradle. The lady in red clothing was silently watching the flames on the hearth. "If you don't mind me asking, how was he murdered, exactly?" Samwell's voice was cracking from nervousness yet he wanted to know, he has to know. "Stabbed. Death by the hands of those that are supposed to follow you, how unfortunate." She answered without taking her gaze away from the flames. "He was stabbed in the eye?" Gilly shared her curiosity along with Sam. "His eye. I took it. He had to pay a price to be revived." Again her gaze on the flames unmoving. "You took it? To give his life back?" Samwell asked in a tone swaying between confusion and anger. "To give his life back, certainly not. I have served to cleanse. I gave him a push to fight on his own." Stretching her arms as if communicating with the flame, Melisandre leaned closer to the hearth. "I burned him from the inside out through his left eye. It'll cost him his eyesight, however, 'twas successful in the end." Her smile mad Samwell and Gilly feel unsettled. "Burned? You burned him?" Samwell furrowed his brows more. "Won't that just kill him a second time? Like how they burn corpses?" Gilly asked clueless. Melisandre stood up and approached the hearth. "Keep this in mind." She turned around and face the two who were earnestly listening. "Dragons don't burn."


	3. Chapter 3 A new face in an empty space

A tug to his side was felt and made him wake up from his slumber. "Sam." Gilly calls. "What is it? Is little Sam awake again?" he asks as he turns towards Gilly. "No. The red witch left the house." She whispers.

Without a second thought, Samwell barged into Jon's room. Lo and behold, he wasn't on his makeshift bed of rags. "Jon!" Samwell panicked. "Do you think he was taken by her?" Gilly worries and check if little Sam was woken up by Samwell's outburst. "The man can't even move on his own without groaning in pain, there's no other explanation." Sam headed deeper into the room and took thick fabrics that seemed to resemble a cloak. "Wear this, we need to stay warm." Sam handed them to Gilly. "What are you talking about? We're not leaving this house." Gilly argues. "We have to leave. Right now, we're still close to the castle. We're still by the wall." Samwell points out of the window. "And what of it?" Gilly was confused. "There was a mutiny, Gilly. They wanted Jon dead. They killed him and now we're next on their list." Samwell said as he packs a little bag. "Is that why the horse was…" she wasn't able to finish her sentence when Samwell suddenly turned to face her. "The horse was unhealthy even before we left Castle Black. It was to make sure we wouldn't get too far. Eventually we have to walk and so we did." Samwell explains. "Do you think they're out there? Looking for us?" Gilly picks little Sam up and wraps him with warm fabric. "I'm certain they'll be having their fun hunting us down. That is why we should be going." Right before taking a step towards the front door, it swung open letting the cold air and fluffs of snow in.

"Come follow me." Melisandre was in a hurry. "Worry not about Jon, He's safe." She drags her cloak down the snow carpeted ground. "It's too dark." Gilly complains. "Bringing a lamp wouldn't help our cause, there are men in the shadows. Make haste, dear. You and your young one should be safe beyond that tall tree." The lady in red whispered to Gilly. "What about you? Aren't you coming with us? Where's Jon?" Samwell was curious. "He has finally recovered. He's waiting by the other side of that tree. There's a cave there. You'll know when you get there." Melisandre turns her back to them and waits for them to leave. "What are you doing?" Gilly asks her. "When one has served one's purpose, then it is time to go back to where one belongs." Melisandre's words made Gilly confused. She summoned balls of flame from nowhere and Samwell wouldn't want to stay behind and watch. He pulled Gilly and little Sam away. They headed for the tree as fast as they could.

Slowly sneaking in the only cave they found, Samwell and Gilly were cautious not to slip or break any pipes of crystal ice that connects from the floor to the ceiling. "Jon?" Samwell calls. Suddenly, the cave's entrance started closing trapping them inside a cold dark tunnel. Samwell and Gilly were closer together hugging little Sam to keep him safe. "Are you alright?" Sam asks Gilly. "Yeah. I'm alright." She answers. The pipes of crystals started glowing luminous blue and lit the tunnel from where they stood to deeper inside. It was as if they were being pointed to a destination. "Let's go." Sam holds her hand.

Walking for minutes they seem to relax more than when they were just a few meters deep into the icy cave. "What's that?" Gilly squints her eyes in hopes to catch the image clearer. There was a dark figure by a corner. "Jon!" Sam immediately rushed forward. He knelt beside Jon's unconscious body. He tried shaking him awake but stopped when a hand suddenly appeared above his.

Sam was taken aback and rushed to where Gilly was. The entity to which the hand belonged to seemed to have disappeared the moment he looked toward where Jon was laying. A soft groan was heard, both Sam and Gilly assumed it came from Jon. "Sam?" he opened his eyes and slowly sat up. "Jon, are you alright?" still cautious, Samwell slowly approached this time. "I'm fine. Where are we?" Jon padded the wall to support his intention to stand. "The red lady brought you here and told us to come after you." Gilly said as she sat down and checks on little Sam in her arms. "Where is she?" Jon questions the quiet Samwell. "Well, when we left her, she seemed to have stayed for our safety. Although, I'm not really certain if it were the men from Castle Black that were after us this time." He couldn't look Jon in the eye. Seeing that he had patch on his left eye. "Do-does it hurt? You-your eye." He stutters as he asks his friend.

His right hand reaching to touch his left eye gently, Jon closes his right eye. He lowered his head then took a quick glance at Sam then fixed his gaze forward. "No, it doesn't." Jon answered firmly. "She saved me. I'm deeply in debt." He added as he took a few steps forward. "This cave, why are we here?" Jon had touched the wall again and felt that it was different from the ice built wall he knew since he came to be a man of the Night's Watch. "She told us we'd be safe here. The entrance from where we came had closed up." Samwell was looking back to a part of the wall that was once an entrance. "Then there's no way but to go deeper into this tunnel." Jon steeled himself and shook off the powdery snow that had stuck to his heavy coat. "Come on Gilly, we have to move forward." Sam took the baby in his hands to help Gilly stand back up.

Walking towards the unknown made him felt vulnerable at every side. Whether there may be something coming from the front or from the back, or the walls, the floor and the ceiling could be lined with traps, he's thought about it but there was a feeling in his gut that kept pulling his feet further, deeper into the unknown. Jon could only see with one eye and feel a throbbing sensation in the other. It didn't feel like pain, it felt like heat. It was warm, not burning hot. He subtly touched the patch over his eye again and pulled his hand back down. _I would never get used to this._ He thought.

The path illuminated by the crystal pipes lead to a wide area. The ceiling became higher seeming to form a dome. The tunnel behind them closed off and left them trapped inside the wide dome of nothing but empty space and crystal lined walls. "Now what?" Gilly broke the silence first. "Jon, mind if we sit down and rest?" Samwell asked with a poor attempt of hiding his breathlessness from walking a distance. "Go on. You and Gilly and the baby could use a rest. I'll just look around." Without looking at them, Jon proceeded to check the walls that surrounded them.

A soft pitched ting was heard and it made him turnabout. All he saw was Sam and Gilly talking while looking at the baby in her arms. He looked around them and saw nothing. _Ting_ , there it was again. He went closer to the wall but heard nothing. Then it chimed in again. This time it wasn't a single note, it was ringing. A sound of a bell that fades in the wind. _Where is it coming from?_ He thought as he walks closer to his companions. "Do you hear that?" with clueless looks received from them, he got a negative answer. "What?" Samwell asked. "I could hear a bell." Jon once again turned his head from left to right. "I can't hear anything." Gilly said and turned to Samwell who only shrugged his shoulders suggesting he hasn't heard anything as well.

A sound of cracking caught the attention of the three and they were forced to look at the center of the dome floor. "Well, well, well. Looks like I have visitors." A woman with a voluptuous figure covered with glimmering red crystals appeared before them. Her hair is dark and pushed back, adorned with more crystals. Her eyes were of bottle green shade and mesmerizingly shaped with every curve. Her lashes were long and voluminous. She arched her dark brow at her guests. "I see you've finally found your way to me, Jon." the woman that seemed to enrapture the three slowly approached.

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Sorry for cutting it at that. But here is where my OC appears. :D wait for the next chapter to know who and what she is.

Let me know what you think of this chapter.

Again, thanks for reading :)


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